This invention relates to transport apparatus.
This invention has particular but not exclusive application to excavating apparatus, and for illustrative purposes reference will be made to such application. However, it is to be understood that the transport apparatus of this invention could be used in other applications, such as cross-country transport.
A continuous mining machine typically comprises a mining head supported by a head transport apparatus which guides the mining head in a desired direction of excavation and provides the stabilizing forces necessary to resist the cutting forces applied at the mining head, as the latter must of necessity overhang the front of the transport apparatus.
Where the cutting forces are relatively light, such as in the mining of soft materials like coal, the transport apparatus may include a pair of crawler tracks, and the dead weight of the transport may be sufficient to prevent it from overbalancing. Where the cutting forces are relatively high, such as in the mining of hard rock, it becomes necessary to provide further stabilization for the transport apparatus, such as may be obtained by clamping it against the walls of the tunnel being cut.